Prince William Opens Up About 'the Worst Pain Any Child or Parent Will Ever Endure' in New Statement
The Prince of Wales is a patron of Child Bereavement UK, which was founded in part by a friend of his late mother, Princess Diana
Diana died in a car accident in August 1997, when William was just 15 and his brother, Prince Harry, was 12
Prince William is lending his voice to a longstanding charity after their big announcement.
The Prince of Wales, 42, got candid about grief in a statement shared to announce the merging of two bereavement charities: Child Bereavement U.K. and Winston's Wish.
"Grief is the very worst pain any child or parent will ever endure, and while we cannot prevent these losses, we can ensure that every possible type of expert support and care is given to help rebuild the lives of those affected,' Prince William said in his statement. "In my 16 years as patron of Child Bereavement U.K., I have seen the life-changing impact of their work and how the support, care and compassion provided protects the long-term health and wellbeing of those living with loss.'
"I have also seen the growing need for support of this kind, and it is because of this increasing demand that I am delighted that Child Bereavement U.K. and Winston's Wish are joining forces to expand their impact,' he continued. 'They have recognized that together they can do so much more, and I commend them both for taking this bold step to reach more people and help to reduce the long-term challenges that unresolved grief can cause."
Prince William lost his mother, Princess Diana, in a car accident on Aug. 31, 1997. He was just 15 years old at the time, and his brother, Prince Harry, was just 12.
Prince William has been a patron of Child Bereavement U.K. since 2009 and will remain on following the merger. The organization was founded in part by a close friend of Princess Diana, Julia Samuel, who praised William's ongoing dedication to the charity.
"He has deep empathy – that really comes across – which is why people feel better for meeting him,' she said of the father of three and heir to the throne. "He has the genuineness that Diana had. They can see it in his face and hear it in his voice. He is warm, but very direct, just as she was."
Prince William has often spoken about how his late mother inspired him to give back to those in need.
In October 2024, he released a two-part documentary, Prince William: We Can End Homelessness, which followed the Prince of Wales in the first year of his Homewards initiative, a five-year project announced in June 2023 with the mission of making homelessness 'rare, brief and unrepeated.'
In the doc, Prince William recalls Princess Diana taking him and Prince Harry to The Passage, which works to end homelessness and help those in need, when they were young boys.
'I must have been about 11, I think probably at the time. Maybe 10,' he shared. 'I'd never been to anything like that before. And I was a bit anxious as to what to expect. My mother went about her usual part of making everyone feel relaxed and having a laugh and joking with everyone. I remember at the time kind of thinking, 'Well, if everyone's not got a home, they're all going to be really sad.' But it was incredible how happy an environment it was.'
'I remember having some good conversations just playing chess and chatting, and that's when it dawned on me that there are other people out there who don't have the same life as you do. When you're quite small, you don't really — you just think life is what you see in front of you. You don't really have the concept to look elsewhere. And it's when you meet people, like I did then, who put a different perspective in your head and say, like, 'I was in the street last night.' And you're like, 'Whoa,' you know. It's like — I remember that happening,' William added.
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